In a bold and decisive operation, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Shin Bet (ISA) targeted a key Hamas command center strategically located within a UNRWA school in central Gaza’s Nuseirat. The IDF, employing unmatched precision, successfully neutralized over 15 terrorist operatives, significantly crippling Hamas' military capabilities.
This command center, deeply embedded within civilian infrastructure, served as a critical node for Hamas' operational planning, including the orchestration of the devastating October 7 attacks and ongoing operations against IDF forces in central Gaza. The strike, guided by flawless intelligence from both the IDF and the ISA, was executed with surgical accuracy, ensuring minimal civilian casualties and demonstrating Israel's commitment to ethical warfare.
Embedded inside an UNRWA school in Nusierat, central Gaza: a Hamas war room.
— COGAT (@cogatonline) May 14, 2024
The war room was used by terrorist operatives in Hamas' military wing.
The @IDF precisely striked in order to minimize harm to uninvolved civilians. 10 Hamas operatives were eliminated. pic.twitter.com/GqS9FDMi8w
The IDF's action illuminates the disturbing reality of Hamas' exploitation of UNRWA facilities, turning educational institutions into fortresses of terror. This manipulation not only endangers the civilian population but also violates international law, which Hamas systematically disregards in its terror campaign against Israel.
Furthermore, evidence has surfaced implicating several UNRWA employees as active participants in terrorist activities, reinforcing accusations against UNRWA for its role in harboring and facilitating terrorist operations. This strike sends a clear message that Israel will not tolerate such abuses of humanitarian cover for terrorist activities, and will continue to act decisively to defend its sovereignty and the safety of its citizens.
UNRWA Staff Stealing Aid In Gaza -
— Robert Spencer (@jihadwatchRS) May 13, 2024
https://t.co/IHg5cx9qxn
This is not the first time that an UNRWA facility had been identified as a Hamas facility. Just last week, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Shin Bet security agency announced decisive strike on a major Hamas command center, ingeniously concealed within a UNRWA compound in Gaza's central region. This strategic operation was a direct countermeasure to recent escalations in terrorist aggression aimed at IDF personnel and disruptions to humanitarian missions.
This critical Hamas facility was central to planning and executing numerous attacks against IDF forces, particularly in Gaza's central corridor, over the last several weeks. Orchestrated by the elite Gaza Division, supported by top-tier intelligence from both the IDF and Shin Bet, the strike was executed with precision, employing advanced weaponry to surgically dismantle the terrorist infrastructure. This was achieved while rigorously avoiding any civilian casualties or damage to non-combatant assets.
The headquarters was pivotal in managing the flow of arms and logistical support to Hamas militants, utilizing an extensive network of underground tunnels. The IDF spokesperson reinforced that Hamas has a longstanding pattern of manipulating international entities and civilian environments as protective covers for its terrorist operations, posing severe risks to peace and stability in the region.
In early March, the IDF released audio recordings that it says incriminate two additional UNRWA employees who allegedly participated in the Hamas-led October 7 onslaught — bringing the total number of agency workers that Jerusalem says actively participated in the attacks to 14.
Does this number of @UNRWA workers you’re publicly mourning include the ones who were documented having taken part in the massacre and abducting hostages on October 7? https://t.co/gfOvR4cqto pic.twitter.com/yvKzbGCFe2
— Eylon Levy (@EylonALevy) May 13, 2024
“I’m inside, I’m inside with the Jews,” Mamdouh al-Qali, an Islamic Jihad terrorist whom the IDF says was employed as a teacher in a UNRWA school, is heard saying in one recording.
“How will you get home?” he is asked in the phone call, and he replies with a laugh: “When I die.”
In another recording, an UNRWA teacher can purportedly be heard bragging about kidnapping Israeli hostages. “We have female hostages, I captured one!” says Yousef al-Hawajara, a Hamas terrorist who worked as a teacher at a UNRWA school in Deir al-Balah, according to the IDF. “Everything’s fine I hope,” he later says in the recording. “We will enter Al-Aqsa Mosque.”
Does this number of @UNRWA workers you’re publicly mourning include the ones who were documented having taken part in the massacre and abducting hostages on October 7? https://t.co/gfOvR4cqto pic.twitter.com/yvKzbGCFe2
— Eylon Levy (@EylonALevy) May 13, 2024
He says that he entered into Israel, and “saw the sights… They shot them in the eyes… they did actions for liberations, God willing.” Asked what he found while in Israel, he says, “One thousand shekels.”
Today's strike as well as the volume of evidence Israel has collected, including the recrodings released in March show a systemic cooperation between UNRWA in Gaza and the Islamist terror group. UNRWA chief Phillipe Lazzarini has long denied any collusion, and even has doubled down on blaming Israel for creating a humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Lazzarinni never even addressed the claims of a released Israeli hostage who said she was held in the home of an UNRWA teacher.